Chilean PTO’s consolidation as PCT ISA/IPEA
By Marta Garcia
Since October 2014, the Chilean National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) has been working as a competent International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) for patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
Additionally, since January 1, 2018, INAPI can also issue international search reports and international preliminary patentability reports both in Spanish and English.
The following 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries have designated the INAPI as PCT ISA/IPEA: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago.
During 2018, 380 applicants — half of which were non-Chilean applicants — designated the INAPI as ISA. This shows an increase of 45% over 2017. Almost half of the patent applications designating INAPI as ISA since 2014 have been in the mechanical field.
In its role as ISA/IPEA, INAPI performed 304 international search reports and written opinions in 2018.
In its role as PCT Receiving Office (RO), during 2018 INAPI received 202 applications, 43% more than in 2017.
Currently, there are 22 Patent Offices worldwide working as PCT ISA/IPEA. In Latin America, the Chilean INAPI and the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial …
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Chilean IP Office Named Second most Innovative PTO in the World
by Marta García
The National Institute of Industrial Property of Chile (INAPI) has ranked as the second most innovative Intellectual Property (IP) office in the world, according to the World Trademark Review (WTR), the world’s only independent daily news and information service dedicated exclusively to reporting on trademark issues internationally.
The IP Office Innovation Ranking is WTR´s annual project to recognize the IP offices around the world that are “committed to exploring value-add non-core offerings for users” with “boundary-pushing tools and services”.
In the third edition of WTR’s annual IP Office Innovation Ranking study, the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has reached the top position for the third time in a row. Chile, which has achieved the top position in America, has shared second place with Spain and Singapore.
Over 100 IP professionals were contacted by WTR worldwide and invited to share their insights on the non-core services from their local IP offices.
The 2019 IP Office Innovation Ranking studied 50 of the leading trademark offices from around the world, examining three areas in particular detail: value-added propositions, online capabilities, and public outreach efforts.
WTR described INAPI, which was also among the 10 top IP offices in its inaugural study …
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Youtuber vs. CNN
Since YouTube appeared in the virtual world in 2005, the ways of creating and sharing content through networks changed forever. Although initially users mostly used this platform to upload contents created by third parties without authorization, in a large percentage of cases1, many of these same users later began to create their own contents and upload them in their channels, being the same baptized as ¨youtubers¨.
Over the months (yes, only months thanks to the immediacy of the networks), many of them began to become famous, both in their countries, and internationally, being their content shared and / or used by traditional media of communication such as radio or television. Added to this, the most popular ¨youtubers¨ began to generate high economic income thanks to the level of visits and subscriptions received in their channels, converting a simple hobby into a well-remunerated economic activity. In this way, new conflicts were raised in the ¨youtube¨ world, but this time not on the contents created external to the platform, but rather on the contents created on the same platform through the ¨youtubers¨, in relation to their author’s rights and the power derived from them in authorizing …
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Changes introduced in patents and designs by Chilean Draft IP Law
by Marta García
On October 2, 2018, a new draft law was sent to the Chilean Congress to update the Law No. 19,039 on Industrial Property, the Law No. 20,254, which establishes the National Institute of Industrial Property and the Criminal Procedure Code.
The main changes introduced by the draft law regarding patents and industrial designs are the following:
Patents
- Provisional patents
The draft law includes the possibility of applying for provisional patent applications, which will provide applicants with a term of 12 months to proceed with the filing of the corresponding definitive application.
- Fees for additional pages
The draft law establishes that any patent application exceeding 50 pages must pay, together with the filing fee, an additional fee of 1 Monthly Tax Unit – which at the end of 2018 was equivalent to approximately 71.5 USD – for every 20 additional pages or fractions of pages.
- Limitation of supplementary protection
According to Article 53 BIS of Law 19,039, any patent (in any technical field) can be eligible for supplementary protection, provided that:
– the grant of the patent exceeded five years from filing or three years from the request for examination, whichever occurs after; or
– the grant of …
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WARNING: Your tattoo may be infringing an IP right!
The Chilean national football team player, Arturo Vidal, is being sued by the “Hueso Santo” advertising agency because, according to their claim, one of the player’s tattoos is based on a logo they created.
For this reason, the above-mentioned advertising agency filed its complaint before the National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI), alleging that the player, who has the tattoo on his neck, “would have inappropriately appropriated a design and a trademark that does not belong to him.” The company also said that it will also file a criminal complaint for infringement based on the Copyright Law, which establishes a fine amounting to a large sum.
The company explained that in May 2014 it created and registered the “AV” logo and the “King Arturo” brand, which were presented to Vidal’s representatives, Twenty Two, but no agreement was reached. Hueso Santo’s lawyer, Felipe Schuster, indicated that “we will demonstrate the bad intentions of Vidal’s representatives and of the player himself when he took the logo that he did not own and used it. The same logo from 2014, is a logo that was not created by him, but by one of my clients, without any type of …
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PTO established as PCT ISA/IPEA
By Marta Garcia
Since October 2014, the Chilean National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) has been working as a competent International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) for patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
The following 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries have designated the INAPI as PCT ISA/IPEA: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador,Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago.
Since January 1, 2018, INAPI can also issue international search reports and international preliminary patentability reports both in Spanish and English, thus facilitating the designation of this office as PCT ISA/IPEA by Caribbean countries – such as Trinidad and Tobago – where English is the official language.
During 2017, 262 applicants –51% of which were non-Chilean applicants –designated the INAPI as ISA.This marks an increase of 19% over 2016, and 44% over 2015. Almost half of the patent applications designating INAPI as ISA since 2014 were in the mechanical field.
In its role as IPEA, INAPI received 19 patent applications in 2017 to perform an international preliminary patentability report, compared to the six applications received in 2016.
In its role as PCT Receiving Office (RO), during 2017 …
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New guidelines clarify divisional filings
By Marta Garcia
On November 2017, the Chilean PTO (INAPI) published an update of the patent examination guidelines providing clarifications regarding divisional applications.
The Regulations to the Chilean IP Law establish that an applicant may voluntarily divide his/her application into two or more divisional applications until the issuance of the first office action regarding substantive examination, provided that the divisional application(s) does not go beyond the scope of the parent application as originally filed.
After that time, divisional applications may only be filed at the Examiner’s request, when an observation due to lack of unity of invention is raised, and only while the parent application is still being prosecuted.
The updated text of the patent examination guidelines recently published by INAPI clarifies some issues related to divisional patent applications, mainly regarding the deadline to file, term and the due date for the payment of maintenance fees.
The following is a summary of the changes introduced by the guidelines:
1) The updated text clarifies that the filing of successive divisional applications has the limitation that a final resolution has not yet been issued for the parent application.
2) The guidelines also specify that, since the examination of a divisional application is …
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Five people arrested for Intellectual Property Law infringement
Five people were arrested for violating Intellectual Property Law in seven pubs and restaurants in Puerto Montt, a port city in southern Chile’s Lake District.They were arrested for illegally downloading and distributing movies and music.
The detectives in charge of the raid were from of the Economic Crimes Brigade, working with the Chilean Society of Phonographic and Videographic Producers, aka Profovi, who also carried out the seizure of various kinds of digital storage and notebooks.
The commissioner of the Investigative Brigade of Economic Crimes, Leonardo Flores, indicated that the items seized were valued at 30 million pesos (USD 51,000). The detainees, who were apprehended in flagrante delicto, were also warned according to Article 26 of the Criminal Procedure Code, pending the corresponding summons by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Undoubtedly, the issue of piracy of audiovisual content in Latin America is significant because it generates demotivation in the investment and development of projects for the production of films, documentaries and all kinds of audiovisual content. In addition, methods of piracy have become increasingly sophisticated, forcing the reinforcement of copyright protection to ensure that the creative community flourishes.
Source: http://noticias.bles.com/america/puerto-montt…
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Osorno Customs seizes counterfeit products
Customs discovered export smuggling valued at USD 25,000 in Osorno, Chile.
The counterfeited products are from China and were detected in a truck when passing through the border crossing CardenalSamoré, Chile. The truck was coming from Santiago with final destination the City of Coyhaique.
The employers of the National Customs Service of Osorno seized the goods including a total of 429 packages containing clothing, toys and socks, as well as automotive items, all valued at USD 25, 000.
The driver could not provide the documents proving the legality of the cargo. The officials proceeded to inspect the truck, finding inside same the smuggled products.
Among the goods found, there were 39 packages of unbranded toys, 360 packages with a variety of different socks and another 30 with parkas, as well as four new truck tire rings 22.5, all of Chinese origin.
All the background and documentation of the products involved related to this case, is available for the authorities (Local Prosecutor of Osorno and the Investigation Police) in order to take the corresponding measures and legal actions.
Source: https://www.aduana.cl…
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Iquique Customs Seizes Counterfeit Toys
On February 9, 2017, three full containers containing a total number of 229,136 fake plastic toys were confiscated in Iquique, Tarapacá province in Chile.
The seizure is the largest infringement procedure to occur in the past few years and double the number of fake products discovered in 2016.
Types of toys included remote control cars, dolls, beauty sets and articles related to animated series. This seizure prevented the commercialization and stopped the infringement of Intellectual Property rights and Industrial Privileges of principle characters including Iron Man®, Thor®, Hulk®, Captain America®, Batman®, Superman®, Spiderman®, Ninja Turtles® among others. In addition, there were also fake dolls of Cinderella®, Princess Sofia®, Frozen®, Luna®, Peppa Pig®, Pokemon Go®, Toy Story®, Dory® and Spiderman®.
According to the official numbers, the first container had 278 packages with 82,368 toys, the second included 285 boxes and 86,280 toys, and the third contained 244 packages with 60,488 products.
The products came from China. The destination was an importer located in the Free Zone (designated areas in which companies are taxed very lightly or not at all in order to encourage economic activities). The commercial value of the products detected exceeded the sum of 200 …
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